Bottlecap BabiesTM Children&#39;s Toy Apparatus Collection and Related Method

ABSTRACT

A Bottlecap Babies™ children&#39;s toy and related method, comprising: a figurine fabricated to appear lifelike, the figurine comprising a representation of a head of the lifelike figurine, and a representation of a posterior of the lifelike figurine; a top bottlecap member selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; the top bottlecap member affixed atop the head of the lifelike figurine in the manner of a cap or hat; a bottom bottlecap member likewise selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; and the bottom bottlecap member affixed beneath the posterior of the lifelike figurine in the manner of a seat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Toys in the form of animals have long been popular with babies and small children, and even with some older children and adults. Teddy Bears, for example, have been popular ever since the early 20^(th) century when they were named for the 26^(th) United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Mickey Mouse created by Walt Disney in 1928 became the flagship of what is now a worldwide, multi-billion dollar Disney empire with many other animal additions such as Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket and the like, and later, with characters such as the Muppets. In the early 1990s, Beanie Babies became widely popular, and while that craze is now subsided, certain animal figurines from that collection still remain very valuable.

In addition, inanimate objects are often brought to life by adding the primary features of an animal face to such object. Halloween pumpkin carving is perhaps the most universally-known example, in which a fruit which is from the vegetable kingdom is nonetheless given lifelike facial attributes of an animal. Fanciful toy objects such as snowmen and ghosts and unicorns and trolls fit no category of a real animal, vegetable or mineral, yet are likewise given lifelike attributes by the addition of facial features. Even the placing of a face onto a rock as in the Pet Rock™ fad of the 1970s can produce a lifelike toy that captures children's imaginations.

This history, and that of other similar toys, makes clear that the general public finds it desirable from time to time to have available novel children's toys with lifelike facial attributes which children find cute and cuddly.

This disclosure introduces Bottlecap Babies™, which are a novel and inventive children's toy in the spirit of a storied history of toys with facial features designed to appeal to the imagination of young children and help them appreciate their natural world.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is a Bottlecap Babies™ children's toy and related method, comprising: a figurine fabricated to appear lifelike, the figurine comprising a representation of a head of the lifelike figurine, and a representation of a posterior of the lifelike figurine; a top bottlecap member selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; the top bottlecap member affixed atop the head of the lifelike figurine in the manner of a cap or hat; a bottom bottlecap member likewise selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; and the bottom bottlecap member affixed beneath the posterior of the lifelike figurine in the manner of a seat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth in the appended claims. The invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing(s) summarized below.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view illustrating a Bottlecap Baby in accordance with the invention. The particular Bottlecap Baby illustrated here, for example and without limitation as to any and all other types of figurines, is a monkey.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the illustrative Bottlecap Baby of FIG. 1, taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Bottlecap Babies™ are a new set of children's toys which appeal to the sensibilities of young children for cute, cuddly toys with lifelike facial features. These toys, which preferably have a height of about 1.5 to 3 inches and most preferably about 1.75 to 2.25 inches, are based around the figurine of an object given the appearance of a real or fanciful being.

For example, for illustration and without limitation, FIG. 1 and its side view FIG. 2 use a monkey as a representative example. In FIGS. 1 and 2, we see a figurine 1 fabricated to appear lifelike (here, the figurine is of a monkey), comprising a representation of a head 4 of said lifelike figurine 1, and a representation of a posterior 5 of said lifelike figurine. Affixed atop the head 4 of the lifelike figurine 1 in the manner of a cap or hat, is a top bottlecap member 2 which can be an actual bottlecap, or a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap. Affixed beneath the posterior 5 of the lifelike figurine 1 in the manner of a seat, is a bottom bottlecap member 3, which likewise can be an actual bottlecap, or a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap.

The overall combination of elements provides the impression of the lifelike figurine 1 wearing a hat or cap, and also sitting upon a similar hat or cap. Perhaps the best known figurine wearing a hat or cap is “Speedy,” created by the Alka-Seltzer® company in 1951, as seen for example at http://www.alkaseltzer.ie/en/about-speedy/. In this case, the “hat” is in the form of an Alka-Seltzer tablet. But there does not appear to be any toy figurine in the prior art, in which an animal figure is “bookended” about its posterior and about its head by elements that present the appearance of a bottlecap. Further, the seating of the figurine atop the same bottlecap that it wears as its cap, can create a highly amused reaction from children which reaction does not occur for a cap by itself.

The overall combination of elements provides the impression of the lifelike figurine 1 being a “baby” which sprouted or was born or hatched from the pair of bottlecaps, which is origin of the fanciful mark Bottlecap Babies™ being used by the inventor in connection with these toys.

Again, the monkey figurine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrative, not limiting. In the manner of Beanie Babies, it is envisioned that Bottlecap Babies™ will establish an entire collection of children's toys, with a wide range of themes, special releases and the like to create and maintain interest among the general public.

As used in this disclosure and its associated claims, it is to be understood that the word “animal” includes any and all living beings in the animal kingdom without limitation, including land animals, sea and water animals, and flying animals, and including human beings. And the phrases “figurine fabricated to appear lifelike” and “lifelike figurine” are understood to encompass any animate or inanimate entity, real or fanciful, which is represented as a figurine and given facial features to make it look as if it is a representation of a living being.

In an embodiment for younger children who have not yet learned what is edible and what is not, the affixing of the bottlecaps 2, 3 to the lifelike figurines 1 should be permanent, as part of the product manufacturing/fabrication, so that there is no risk of the child detaching and then swallowing a bottlecap. In an embodiment for older children who have formed proper judgment about what can and cannot be eaten, it is understood that the bottlecaps may be removable and interchangeable. Then, the bottlecaps themselves can be given distinguishing features of interest and traded or collected in the manner of, e.g. baseball or other sports cards.

In the embodiment for younger children wherein the bottlecaps 2 and 3 are permanently affixed to the lifelike figurine 1, it is preferred, but not required, that the bottom bottlecap member 3 be substantially the same as said top bottlecap member 2. In the embodiment for younger children wherein the bottlecaps 2 and 3 affixations are removable and interchangeable, the bottom bottlecap member 3 may differ in form and appearance from the top bottlecap member 2. Then, again, for older children who know better than to swallow a bottlecap, the caps themselves may be removable (e.g., snap off, twist off), and so themselves may be accessorized and collected and traded.

It is also appreciated that the Bottlecap Babies™ disclosed here can form the marketing basis for wide variety of associated “Bottlecap” products and business methods. This includes but is not limited to Bottlecap: music, cars, trucks, planes, boats, food, houses, cartoons, movies, entertainment, books (including for coloring), games (including video), apps, merchandise, clothing, jewelry, footwear, beverages, stationary, personal products, glasses, cups, artwork, posters, play money, clocks, plates, cutlery, party supplies, candy, magnets, stickers, pencils, pens, erasers, book covers, lunch boxes, electronics, learning devices, blocks, puzzles, sleds, bikes, sporting goods, fragrances, flavors, textures, memorabilia, and swim wear, etc.

Additionally, devices and business methods and themes are envisioned pertaining to Bottlecap: seasons, holidays, months, days of the week, geographic directions (north, south east west, etc.), stars, lands, universes, societies, realms, spaces, and galaxies, etc. Additionally envisioned are Bottlecap: animals, fish, fictional characters, furniture, political views, nationalities, countries, astrology, reptiles, rodents, bears, bunnies, trees, forests, castles, computers, wine stoppers, numbers, letters, academic subjects, tools, pool floats, swimming pool accessories, phone cases, tablet cases, charging devices, handheld devices, cling-ons, bags, wraps, soap, mouthwash, band aids, postcards, and greeting cards. Additionally, the “Bottlecap” in Bottlecap Babies™ may be used as a marketing adjective, for example, “Bottlecap cute,” “Bottlecap happy,” “Bottlecap love,” “Bottlecap-operated,” etc. Finally, there may be Bottlecap: emotions and emoticons and personality traits (e.g. in the manner of Disney's Seven Dwarfs).

The knowledge possessed by someone of ordinary skill in the art at the time of this disclosure, including but not limited to the prior art disclosed with this application, is understood to be part and parcel of this disclosure and is implicitly incorporated by reference herein, even if in the interest of economy express statements about the specific knowledge understood to be possessed by someone of ordinary skill are omitted from this disclosure. While reference may be made in this disclosure to the invention comprising a combination of a plurality of elements, it is also understood that this invention is regarded to comprise combinations which omit or exclude one or more of such elements, even if this omission or exclusion of an element or elements is not expressly stated herein, unless it is expressly stated herein that an element is essential to applicant's combination and cannot be omitted. It is further understood that the related prior art may include elements from which this invention may be distinguished by negative claim limitations, even without any express statement of such negative limitations herein. It is to be understood, between the positive statements of applicant's invention expressly stated herein, and the prior art and knowledge of the prior art by those of ordinary skill which is incorporated herein even if not expressly reproduced here for reasons of economy, that any and all such negative claim limitations supported by the prior art are also considered to be within the scope of this disclosure and its associated claims, even absent any express statement herein about any particular negative claim limitations.

Finally, while only certain preferred features of the invention have been illustrated and described, many modifications, changes and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A Bottlecap Babies children's toy, comprising: a figurine fabricated to appear lifelike, said figurine comprising a representation of a head of said lifelike figurine, and a representation of a posterior of said lifelike figurine; a top bottlecap member selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; said top bottlecap member affixed atop said head of said lifelike figurine in the manner of a cap or hat; a bottom bottlecap member likewise selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; and said bottom bottlecap member affixed beneath said posterior of said lifelike figurine in the manner of a seat.
 2. The children's toy of claim 1, wherein said top bottlecap member and said bottom bottlecap member are permanently affixed to said lifelike figurine for ensuring they cannot removed and swallowed by a small child user of said toy.
 3. The children's toy of claim 1, wherein said top bottlecap member and said bottom bottlecap member are removably affixed to said lifelike figurine enabling them to be replaced at will by a user of said toy.
 4. The children's toy of claim 1, wherein said top bottlecap member and said bottom bottlecap member are substantially the same in form and appearance.
 5. The children's toy of claim 1, said figurine comprising a representation of an animal.
 6. The children's toy of claim 1, said figurine comprising a representation of an entity other than an animal, and made to appear to have the facial features of a living being.
 7. A method of assembling and using a Bottlecap Babies™ children's toy, comprising: providing a figurine fabricated to appear lifelike, said figurine comprising a representation of a head of said lifelike figurine, and a representation of a posterior of said lifelike figurine; affixing atop said head of said lifelike figurine in the manner of a cap or hat, a top bottlecap member selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap; and affixing beneath said posterior of said lifelike figurine in the manner of a seat, a bottom bottlecap member likewise selected from the group consisting of: a bottlecap; and a member shaped in the form of a bottlecap.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising permanently affixing said top bottlecap member and said bottom bottlecap member to said lifelike figurine during the manufacture of said toy, in a manner ensuring they cannot removed and swallowed by a small child user of said toy.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising removably affixing said top bottlecap member and said bottom bottlecap member to said lifelike figurine, for enabling them to be replaced at will by a user of said toy.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising affixing said top bottlecap member and said bottom member wherein they are substantially the same in form and appearance.
 11. The method of claim 7, said figurine comprising a representation of an animal.
 12. The method of claim 7, said figurine comprising a representation of an entity other than an animal, and made to appear to have the facial features of a living being.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising a user of said toy removing said top bottlecap member and replacing it with a different top bottlecap member, at will.
 14. The method of claim 9, further comprising a user of said toy removing said bottom bottlecap member and replacing it with a different bottom bottlecap member, at will. 